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Innovative folding plug goes on sale in Britain

The Mu, a folding plug design that can transform a chunky three-pin British plug into a slim 14mm-thick adapter, is available for pre-order and will ship later this February.

The original concept arose in 2009 and came from South Korea-born Min-Kyu Choi. He was inspired by Apple's atom-thick Macbook Air laptop -- which shipped in England with a plug thicker than the actual gadget, by several orders of magnitude. "I was frustrated by the dimensions of the traditional plug, and felt that the existing unit, which dates back to 1947, was out of touch and incongruous with modern design," says Choi. "My idea was very simple -- redesign the plug to bring it in line with the clean look and feel of today's technology; without compromising functionality."

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The concept was to squish the electronics into a chamber that's long and thin, rather than the typical short and wide design. The main pins can swivel into a vertical position, and then a plastic cover snaps shut. The whole thing collapses into a slim, rectangular shape.

Three years later, and the plug -- now named Mu -- is actually in production. When shut, the whole thing is 14mm thick and reduces the traditional plug size by over 70 percent.

Right now, the Mu is exclusively a USB adapter and intended for

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smartphones and tablets. The vast majority of laptops won't work because they "normally require more power than USB adapters can provide," creator Made in Mind explains on its website, "however, we are working on a Mu laptop charger."

It'll set you back £25 plus postage. That's a little pricey, but if you're a frequent traveller who's sick of plug pins protruding out of your bag, it might just be worth the cash. It's available for pre-order now and will ship on 28 February.